From the POAH Chicago Office

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jobs and complementary businesses to keycommercial areas.

From there the discussion covered a mix ofthe progress made in recent years and workstill left to do. Washington Park residents seea library there as a boost for 55th Street,where an arts incubator and other boldinvestments underscore the area’s potentialbut where vacant lots still underscore itschallenges.

Woodlawn residents talked about the library’spotential to revive 63rd Street and to connectto development under way on Cottage Groveand in east Woodlawn, where hundreds ofnew and rehabbed units are either built orunder development and where new retailand institutional projects are planned forthe next few years.

Hundreds of people testified, none morespiritedly than Rev. Leon Finney, who broughtthe crowd to its feet with a passionate ar-gument for a South Side location.

The Obamas, we are told, will pick a site in thespring. A Jackson Park site should provide aboost for 63rd Street, but a Washington Parksite might have a bigger impact on WestWoodlawn.

Whatever the outcome, the fight for thelibrary gave local residents and stakeholdersan opportunity to brag about their neighbor-hood and they did not miss their chance.Hopefully we can all continue to build onsuch a spirited outpouring.

- Bill Eager, VP Chicago Area, POAH

©Preservation of Affordable Housing | Chicago, IL 60637 | poahchicago.org

With the debateover the home of theObama PresidentialLibrary attractingnational attention,the spotlight is cer-tainly on Woodlawnand our neighborWashington Park oflate. And with thatattention comes theopportunity to showoff this community’s continuing progress.

On January 13, residents, park preservationistsand others packed the Hyde Park Academyauditorium for the first of two public hearingson whether a presidential library should belocated in Jackson Park – directly across StonyIsland from the school – or in Washington Parknear 55th and King Drive.

At Hyde Park Academy, and at WashingtonPark the next day, community support forplacing the library on the South Side wasoverwhelming, although parks preservationgroups provided spirited opposition tothe idea.

Most of the support was expressed alongthese lines: President Obama lived among us,taught among and worked in the communitiesthat surround us. It’s only right that a libraryand museum honoring our first African-American president be located here. Itwould be an amenity for our parks andserve as an economic catalyst by bringing

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c/o Woodlawn Park Apartments | 6101 South Evans Avenue | Chicago, IL 60637 | poahchicago.org

Strand Hotel to Get New Life - Add to the Vitality of Cottage Grove

WINTER 2015

The revival of the historic Strand Hotel, on Cottage Grove Avenuejust south of 63rd Street, is under way.

Developer Peter Holsten, Holsten Human Capital Developmentand Historic Strand LP plan to invest $23 million to renovate thelong-vacant century-old hotel into 63 studio and one-bedroomapartments with ground-floor retail space. 53 of the units will be madeavailable to residents who earn up to 60% of area median income,while nine will be rented at market rates and one will be reservedfor on-site maintenance.

Once part of a thriving entertainment district anchored by the formerTivoli Theater to the south, the Strand Hotel housed the McKie’s DiskJockey Show Lounge, where jazz legends such as John Coltrane,Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins often played. However, after years ofdisinvestment, the building fell into disrepair and was abandoned in1965. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in2013. The dramatic marble staircase, plaster pilasters and capitals,skylights and beautifully tiled floors still remain awaiting restoration.

“African American night clubs blossomed in 1951 when the Woodlawncolor lines broke,” said 20th Ward Alderman Willie B. Cochran. “I’mglad that we are able to preserve this important piece of history whileproviding the housing that this community needs.”

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Letter from the AldermanThe most rewarding aspect of beingAlderman has been working with peoplein the community, hearing the concerns,creating a plan of action, following itand seeing it realized. For more thaneight years, I have partnered with thecommunity to bring needed renewal toour housing, businesses and schools.

I have had some victories. In the area of education, thetransition of Fiske and Sexton schools has been managedwell with the support of the parents, administration andcommunity. Another victory was the reopening of theWoodlawn Mental Health Clinic at 6317 S. Woodlawn. At thatclinic case workers are now visiting the homes of clients todeliver routine services. The University of Chicago recentlyannounced its hospital has petitioned to expand its emergencyroom to provide more access and better services. This includesincreasing the age of youth treatment for traumatic injuriesto 17 years old.

The neighborhood is also getting better as a result of $300million in improvements across the ward in recent years,including work on sewer and water lines, streets, parkways andlights. One of the greatest transformations in Woodlawn’s historyhas been that of former Grove Parc Plaza Apartment complex.The Cottage Grove corridor has never looked so goodwith the transformation of this property to Woodlawn Park.

The change continues to take place as we improve the qualityof life. We continue to advocate for expanding pediatric andadult trauma centers. We continue to develop new programsfor youth and new market rate and affordable housing and wecontinue to stand up for legislation to reduce foreclosures andhold lenders responsible for the property that is on their books.

In addition, I am feverishly working to see that Woodlawn,Washington Park and Jackson Park are included in the PresidentBarack Obama Library discussion and that the residentsof the 20th Ward, as well as Black businesses, participate.

The community is on the cutting edge of real breakthroughsand I look forward to continuing the strong alliance we havebuilt to keep moving forward and building a better future.

- Alderman Willie B. Cochran, 20th Ward

Original Strand Hotel Rendering of New Strand Hotel

Original Strand Hotel Lobby

Cottage Grove Senior Housing and Youth Sports/Education CenterMove Closer to CompletionBringing new resources to the old and young, the transformation of the South Cottage Grove Avenue corridor continues withconstruction of new senior housing, The Burnham at Woodlawn Park, and MetroSquash, a new youth sports/education center.

POAH is building The Burnham at 62nd and Cottage Grove as replacementhousing for the now-razed Grove Parc Plaza Apartments. When completed,the $24.3 million development will offer 65 one- and two-bedroom apartments,a walking/sitting garden for residents, a community room, an exercise roomand a library. The building will also offer a community resource center andhouse POAH’s property management affiliate, POAH Communities, Inc.

The sports center at 61st and Cottage Grove is being built as the first free-standingfacility for MetroSquash, the Chicago-based organization that uses squash toengage students from 5th grade through college in sports, tutoring and mentoring.

The facility will house eight squash courts, four classrooms and communityspace for 300-plus youth. To construct the building, MetroSquash raised $6.5million from private sources. The City and JP Morgan Chase provided $5 millionin New Markets Tax Credits for the project.

“The unique combination of squash and academic instruction along withmentoring, cultural enrichment and community service help students withtheir self-confidence, independence and academic training in preparationto be successful in middle school, high school and college,” said PaulCussen, chairman of the MetroSquash board.

MetroSquash is scheduled to open in April. The senior building will welcomeits first residents in August.

Eyesore Becomes Amenity - The Transformation of the ComEd Substation

At the urging of POAH and Ald. Willie B. Cochran, Commonwealth Edisonhas made beautification improvements to its substation at 62nd and CottageGrove Avenue. The improvements complement the transformation thatis taking place along the corridor and include ornamental fencing; replacingor repairing exterior doors; repairing or replacing windows; replacing 44roof skylight louvers with fixed plates and motorized skylights for ventilation;installing lava rock in an area abutting the sidewalk; paving west and eastparking areas; installing 12 exterior lights with motion detection; powerwashing the building; sealing the basement; and adding sod.

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The rehabilitation of the five-storyproject is made possible through $2.0million in City tax increment financing,a $4.7 million loan, $3.3 million in historictax credit equity, $290,000 in donationstax credit equity and $1.2 million in lowincome housing tax credits that areprojected to generate $12.4 million inequity.

Original Strand Hotel Lobby

POAH's Chicago Vice President Bill Eager testified inJanuary before Chicago Park District commissionersin support of siting the Obama Presidential Library onthe South Side.

The University of Chicago isvying to be the much-sought-after home of the PresidentObama Library Center andMuseum. There are four con-tenders - two sites on either sideof the university, a Lawndalesite near the University of Illinoisat Chicago; Columbia Universityin New York; and an area nearthe University of Hawaii.

The two sites proposed bythe U of C are owned by theChicago Park District – 21acres in Jackson Park and 22acres in Washington Park.The Park District is expectedto authorize transferring thepark land to the City make way for a potential libraryshould the President and First Lady choose one ofthese park locations.

The University proposal, which includes ideas for possiblecollaborations with community groups and higher

education institutions across the city, highlights op-portunities for economic development, civic partner-ships and cultural enrichment.

Speaking at one of the community meetings, civil rightsactivist, community leaderand historian Tim Black said“Harold Washington movedthe DuSable (Museum) toWashington Park in the 80sto honor the Black man whofounded Chicago. It wouldbe only fitting to honor theman (Jean Baptiste PointDuSable) whom Chicagosent to be the first blackpresident with a museum inwalking distance of the first.”

Final recommendations forthe presidential library areexpected to be submitted inthe first quarter of 2015.

Obama’s Presidential Library Coming to Woodlawn?

The crowd at a Park District hearing was overwhelminglysupportive of the Obama library locating on the SouthSide.

Woodlawn Residents Get Hired at Employer’s Forum The Woodlawn Resource Center hosted a hiring seminar on January 6 in partnership with the Calumet Area Industrial Com-mission (CAIC).

CAIC has a membership of more than 130 companies, including the Ford Motor company, in Chicago and the southsuburbs that engage in manufacturing, transportation and logistics. At the hiring event CAIC sought candidates whohave a desire to work in manufacturing and are skilled, certified and licensed.

The jobs in question are permanent full-time positions that yield an average hourly wage of $14-$20. The WoodlawnCareer Network staff screened eligible candidates, and CAIC met with 47 individuals at the hiring event.

CAIC was pleased with the candidate pool and selected nine candidates for additional interviews. Four of those candidatesare going through the employment process with Leer Auto Manufacturing and Tower, both contractors for Ford MotorCompany.

CAIC continues to count on our partnership as it seeks quality candidates to fill their job orders. The Career Network staffwill continuing working with candidates not selected during this event to get them placed elsewhere.